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Reis's heart thundered in his chest.

Chroyl waved her tail as she regarded him with an eyeless expression from upon her great grandfather clock.

The moment stretched on for an eternity. The rift above her spun slowly, the darkness roaring with biting crosswinds. Purple mist swirled and shifted about, obscuring everything beyond a short distance. The spires and crumbling stone buildings, as dead and silent as this damned place, rose here and there from the violet gloom. The very ground was solidified darkness, spongy, a hue somewhere between deathly blacks and shrouding purples.

The kouv'yrn raised all six of her hands and began moving them in a complex pattern. This time knowledge flowed into Reis and he felt a faint tingling as the shadows read the spell's construction. All of its faults called to him, begging to be broken and shattered. Why he thought so, or how it might even possible in the first place, eluded him, but it didn't matter. The spell drew on an ancient power, older than even Chroyl, and one that was not servile to her, but merely indifferent of its exploitation: time.

Short of stopping Chroyl physically, there was nothing he could directly do to the spell. Whatever that meant. Reis shook his head. So many thoughts were storming inside his skull. He couldn't tell which were his and which weren't. Maybe none of them were. Maybe they all were. He knew things he had not known before, but it came to him like an old memory resurfacing. Even now, as his itching eyes scanned, he felt knowledge flowing into him like water into an urn.

Reis decided not to question it. At least not while he was a heartbeat from dying.

The shadows engulfed him in response to his will. Reis stepped forward as Chroyl's spell was cast-and immediately appeared beside the great clock, having somehow traversed the distance in a single stride. Chroyl's spell missed, but Reis could still see that it affected the area where he had been standing moments ago.

Sara reanimated and glanced around in confusion. Chroyl's features tightened but she immediately repeated the spell after gesturing with two of her hands. The spherical shringa zoomed towards Reis with deadly intent.

"Move back!" Reis shouted to Sara.

Her confusion deepened. "Reis? Is that you?"

"Just move back!" he repeated, leaping through the shadows and meeting the shringa head on.

Sara's blade was heavy and unwieldy in his grip, but it served its purpose. Reis heaved the greatsword and the shringa closest to him split into quickly dissolving halves. Without hesitating he stepped through the darkness again, appearing a short distance away. Chroyl's spell settled on top of where he had just been.

"What trickery isss thisss?" the snake-like abomination cried in frustration, her arms smoothly continuing their intricate weaving.

The spell came quicker this time, forcing Reis to immediately walk the shadows. Each time he did so, something sapped strength from his very bones and his muscles began to ache as from physical exertion. The growing fatigue he felt did not go unnoticed by Chroyl.

The creature smiled and quickened the pace of her casting. Reis blinked in and out of existence, appearing in random circles around the grandfather clock. He was tiring quickly, but his efforts weren't wasted. Several of the the shringa had fallen prey to him as he traversed the small clearing and rooftops, but he had also been carefully watching and studying Chroyl's spell. A plan had formed in his mind.

He only hoped it worked.

Sara watched in awe as he battled the shringa and evaded Chroyl's stilling of time. The monster had tried distracting him as she had Sara, but Reis had been watching for the tactic and was quick to intercept any shringa that drew close to Sara. When that proved too difficult, Reis simply pulled her through the shadows to him as he had her sword, though he refrained from doing so as it taxed him. Sara stared at him with open surprise as he did all of this, but was wise enough to stay as out of the way as much as possible. After the initial shock of being transported to him once, she'd quickly learned to start placing distance between them after reappearing.

No matter how many shringa he cut down however, more continued to descend from the rift in the heavens. He prevented despair from taking root in his heart, realizing that unless he went on the offense the battle would never end in their favor. It was easier said than done, for Chroyl had realized the same thing and had kept several shringa hovering around her protectively. Her unseeing gazed watched him expectantly, waiting for him to tire and stumble or grow frustrated and attack her directly.

And those were pretty much his only choices.

Reis shadowstepped towards the great grandfather clock. Several shringa spun protectively towards the great kouv'yrn. His heart quickened as he let the first fly by and open a wide gash in his side while the other shringa he stabbed. Another step and he appeared beside Chroyl on top of her clock. A pleased smile came to her lips and he prayed to any god who might be watching over this damned place that the unnamed source of knowledge was right.

Her tail whipped at him, but Reis flicked his ears and somersaulted over it, then, watching her hands carefully, shadowstepped midway through the maneuver. The spell prickled as it barely missed, but he payed no attention to the sensation. As soon as he reappeared he walked the shadows again, wincing as his body protested and the prickle returned. Again he appeared in front of Chroyl and surprise came to her face. The pattern her hands worked immediately changed and Reis resisted the urge to smile.

There was a delay between when she could warp time again in the same location, after all.

Putting all his strength into hefting the greatsword, he slashed once at the tail that rose protectively, cutting it off and dousing himself in violet ooze, then thrust forward and sunk the blade into yielding flesh. Straining his muscles and drawing on power he didn't know he had, he dragged the sword through her, cutting organs and flesh, the wound spurting thick ooze and reeking of foulness.

Pain flashed across her face, then surprise, then there was nothing.

Reis's hands shook as he stared disbelievingly at her lifeless form. A hysterical laugh erupted from him and Sara's distant cheering reached his ears.

Then the clock started ringing.

Surprised, Reis shadowstepped back beside Sara and watched in horror as the ancient clock's hands began to spin in reverse. As it did so Chroyl reformed until she was again whole. A mocking laugh broke the stunned silence.

Chroyl leaned forward on her monstrous breasts. "I wasss looking forward to playing with you, but perhapsss you are more trouble than you are worth, yesss?"

"You've got to be bloody kidding me!" Reis screeched, not really caring that his frustration brought a smile to Chroyl's face.

Her hands began to move once, though in the pattern of a destructive spell.

Anger clouded Reis's vision. Sara might have said something, but he didn't hear the words. The shadows swirling mysteriously around him were already healing his wounds, but that too drew on something inside him. The cold, spreading pain warned that his body was at its limit; his mind didn't care.

Reis drowned Sara in shadows and sent her far from him, ignoring the bone-deep pain it brought. Chroyl's spell finished and a rushing gust of wind raged to life before her clock, then snaked its way towards him, cleaving a deep channel in the formless ground and drawing in nearby buildings with a deep rumble and spray of debris.

He shadowstepped, avoiding the spell which crashed behind him with force. Again he stood on Chroyl's clock. Another spell was quickly cast by her constantly moving hand. Points of flame flared around him, but shadows cloaked him and Reis's anger drove him, so he ignored them. They pounced, burning his flesh and eliciting terrible pain.

The only reason he was probably alive was because of the shadows fighting the hostile magic.

He didn't care. The heavy sword rose and Chroyl sneered at him. The blade flashed and two of her hands flew from her body, interrupting her spell. Another and a deep wound spilled purple ooze and partly cleaved another thin arm. The clock sounded its damned call and Reis fell its powerful magic, deeply twined with Chroyl, work to restore her.

Not this time.

The greatsword in his hands flared purple, but the plain steel seemed to resist the infusion of himself that channeled through it. It was still enough. A deep hunger flowed through his body and a predatory will took root in his mind. Both hands raised the sword high even as Chroyl's wounds vanished and he plunged the darkly radiant weapon into the clock.

The sword was but the prick of a thorn to the artifact, but the power surging in it was not. It clawed at the magic viciously, mercilessly tearing at it as it attempted to fulfill its duty. Reis got the unsettling impression of a predator taking down its prey. Pain thundered inside and raced along his bones. The greatsword grew searing hot and burned his hands, but he didn't dare let go. Chroyl stared at him in surprise.

The clock sounded one last time, a dying ring that was swallowed by the darkness. The greatsword in his hand exploded, impaling him with searing shards of metal. He screamed. The shadows fought to protect him, removing those bits still embedded in his flesh and restoring damage as best it could.

Shaking, he reached for one of the larger shards at his feet. It cut and burned his hands, but he felt nothing. Turning to a stunned-even frightened-Chroyl, he leapt at her and stabbed the shard into her eyeless face, into her throat, into anywhere he could reach. He didn't stop until she was an unmoving gory mess and the shard had become impossible to hold in his shredded and burned hand.

The clock began to melt slowly, as did Chroyl's body, both liquifying into black and violet sludge. The rift above them snapped shut with a deafening crack. The remaining shringa buzzed in a circle around their fallen master, drawing closer to him with cold, unfeeling purpose.

Somewhere Sara was calling to him. Her voice was growing closer. A fireball set two of the shringa nearest to him aflame, but there were at least a handful left. She should have ran off and saved herself.

It would have been the most sensible thing to do.

Reis laughed as he crumpled onto the dissolving clock and Chroyl's remains, the shringa looming closer. It wasn't my day after all...

It was the last thought to cross his mind before darkness took him. Somehow, it felt comforting.

The first thing Reis felt when he could feel anything at all was pain. Not the kind of pain he had expected; somewhere in the back of his mind he recalled that he should probably be dead, or at least badly burnt and cut. But there was only a deep soreness, like every muscle in his body was on the verge of collapse.

That was better than being dead, so he tallied it up as being a good thing. The only problem was that now he wished he were dead.

He groaned.

Something stirred beside him and a warm hand touched his arm. Bright lights stung when he opened his teary eyes and blurriness persisted even when he tried to blink it away.

"It's all right, Reis. Take it easy."

Sara's voice.

He rose with a start and immediately regretted it. "Are they gone?! Did we-"

"Ah, he's finally awake." another voice said, interrupting him.

The blurriness passed and Reis saw that he was lying on a medical bed in the Healer's Ward, hidden by a teal curtain that turned the tiny space into a room of sorts. A white robed healer who he recognized as Veness stared down her spectacles at him, her pale brown tail swishing behind her.

To her left was a worried Sara, her own tail nervously waving, and to the right Dorvalis sat in a chair, hands resting on top of his cane.

"What...happened?" he said bluntly.

Dorvalis snorted. "A good question."

"After you ripped Chroyl apart," Sara began, ignoring the old praetor, "I tried to save you from those things, but there were so many..." She hesitated, then shrugged. "Before I got very close the shadows moving around you flared and started drowning out everything, then I woke up here too."

The praetor and healer exchanged glances. Veness coughed.

"According to her instructor, Miss Nard here never returned from using the restroom," Veness said. "They couldn't find her so they reported her missing, and then she turned up unconscious outside her classroom hours later." The small fox regarded him with curious eyes. "You were missing from solitary confinement around the same time, then reappeared shortly after Miss Nard was brought in."

"Something was coming for me." Sara shivered. "Or at least that's what it felt like before I woke up in that strange place."

The healer tsked and shook her head."I told you that was likely a dream."

"Ask him! He'll say the same thing!" She crossed her arms, soft brown eyes rolling. "And I suppose his eyes, ears, and tail are all something I'm dreaming up too?"

They said nothing to that.

Reis had completely forgotten. He gingerly fingered the top of his head, feeling lupine ears flicker at his touch. Behind him his sable wolf-tail curled into view. He wasn't sure what to think of either.

"What's wrong with my eyes?" he asked, sighing.

"They're gold."

Reis blinked, imagining how he must look.

"I've never encountered anything like you before," the healer admitted. "It's like you're a cross between human and ladellan, which is of course impossible. Even a child born between such a bonding would either be entirely human or entirely ladellan and even then would require the aid of a mage to work. I don't know what to say..."

"Then don't say anything," he said, drawing off the covers and noticing he was wearing a patient's robe. "Am I healthy enough to leave?"

The healer blinked, looking at the praetor. "W-well, yes. You only seem to be a little tired, but don't you want to find out why-"

"Nope," Reis said simply. "I think I'm happy enough to be alive-"

Sara snorted in agreement.

"-and believe me when I say that the ears, eyes, and tail aren't the weirdest or worst thing that's happened to me today."

"I think the new look is very handsome, anyway." Sara grinned and swished her tail.

Reis smiled tiredly back. "I just want to go home, unless of course Dorvalis wants to be a pain in the arse."

The old man hmphed and shook his head. "We're investigating Sara's disappearance. Luckily for you we're also chalking up your vanishing act to the unknown. My peers are even willing to overlook your previous mishap, since it was your first major offense and today has apparently been a trying day."

"In other words they're tripping over themselves wondering if anything could actually be happening to the Academy's students."

"Just tell me your side of things and go get some rest."

Reis reluctantly did so, though he started from when he had meet Sara and left everything else out. The healer and praetor were obviously surprised that their stories aligned and Reis realized with annoyance that they half expected a more mundane reason for the both of them to have mysteriously vanished together, despite the unusual circumstances surrounding the day. Reis didn't care. He knew he sounded crazy and unless the praetors detected some kind of sorcery at work that's exactly what they'd call them, altered body or not.

So all he could really do was wait and hope they became involved, because Reis never again wanted to relive that nightmare. He didn't even want to think about it.

The fact that there was no recognition in Dorvalis's eyes when he mentioned the kouv'yrn or the shringa wasn't encouraging though.

"You gained these powers in this shadowed realm, you say?" Dorvalis asked curiously. "Can you use them now?"

Reis looked at his hand. The shadows no longer lingered, but he could feel them there, hidden, protecting his body passively until he called upon them.

"I don't think so," he said, surprising himself. Something about the way Dorvalis and the healer looked at him, as if he were some experiment they were awaiting positive results from, scared him. His waning magic had already seen his life become like that-how worse would it be if the praetors thought he possessed a dangerous, unknown power?

"Well, perhaps that's for the best," Dorvalis said. "I see no reason to hold you, though I thoroughly wish I did. Go home."

They left and let him dress. Once he was again donned in his emerald robes-which were curiously free of damage-he joined Sara and together they walked out from the Healer's Ward. A crowd had gathered, surprising the both of them, and wide eyes stared at them while whispers began to course between the wall of varied bodies. There were a few inappropriate things said that made him blush, but mostly he caught bits of conversation about his appearance. That suited him fine, because he really didn't care at the moment.

When they were clear of the crowd and walking the stark white halls alone, Sara frowned.

"I didn't show them my powers either," she said. "But I can still control flame and my head's filled with so much knowledge about fighting that I'm afraid it's going to burst!" She gave him a sidelong glance. "Were you...afraid of what they would say and do to us?"

Reis hesitated, then nodded.

"Yeah...maybe it's better of we keep it to ourselves. "

"Probably a good idea," he said, stuffing his hands into his robe's pockets and flattening his ears. "Until we find out more. The way I see it, either the praetors will find what's happening and it won't be our problem any more, or..."

"They won't be able to detect anything."

"Right. Then, of course, without any hard proof, my appearances and our absence non-withstanding, they're just make up excuses and brush it all under the carpet." A deep sigh escaped him. "That's probably going to be what happens. The Academy's walls basically have more wards than paint and I was in bloody solitary confinement. If they didn't notice something was wrong they're probably not going to."

"What...about us, then?"

Reis shrugged. "I don't know. And that scares the shit out of me."

"Me too," she admitted. "But, at least we have each other, right? I mean, we know we're not going crazy or anything, and we both have someone to talk to about it all."

"Yeah..."

They stepped out into the smaller courtyard behind the Academy. The sky was painted in golds, pinks, and pale blues, the sun dipping beneath the horizon. A warm breeze drifted, carrying the voices of students coming and going.

Sara tilted her head thoughtfully. "What if this happens to others?"

Reis hadn't thought of that, but couldn't think of a good reply either, so he just shrugged. "I don't know, Sara. If it happens to enough people I suppose the Praetor Council won't be able to ignore it..."

"She called me a remnant," Sara continued. "Chroyl I mean. The 'Remnant of Rage'. She knew what I was, whatever that is."

"She called me a remnant too," Reis said, frowning. "Though she didn't name me anything particular. Actually, that damn thing didn't seem to recognize me at all even though she seemed familiar with your powers."

"That means it's not random though," Sara said, licking her lips. "There have to be a certain number of remnants, right? And they're probably certain people..." She deflated and frowned. "Though that doesn't tell us much, does it?"

"No, it doesn't, and to be honest, I'm already tired of guessing. My head hurts."

"Fine," she said, sounding disappointed. "Thanks for saving me back there, by the way."

He grinned. "You did your share, which reminds me, I still owe you that steak if you're up for it. Home cooked unfortunately because I don't think I can make it further than the dorms." He scratched his head, tail waving beneath his robes-at some point he would have to pick up a set of robes designed for tailed ladellans. "I think I have something resembling steak lying around."

"That's sounds good," she said, laughing. "I'm starving."

Reis led them through the complex behind the main academy building where the remaining facilities-including the unisex dorms-stood. Recreational rooms, a lake for swimming, trails weaving through the forests surrounding the Hyvor Academy, and even several shops run by Academy staff rose to either side of them as they walked the street-like cobblestone path. Here students abounded, walking in groups, their robes mingling in a bright array of colors.

Most of them minded their companions and their conversations, but a few looked their way, and Reis's new ears caught more than one remark involving him.

Soon they reached the blocky buildings that were the dorms, plain structures crafted from stone bricks. Each floor was divided into six living abodes with four floors to each building, and there were enough of these packed closely together that from afar them seemed to form a drab city themselves.

They entered the makeshift dorm-city. A lot of those they found here wore much more casual clothing, favoring tunics, vests, and slacks. Before long he stopped before one of the buildings and gestured at it.

"Here we go. Not far from the school, but my dorm's on the bloody fourth floor."

"Keeps you in shape," Sara said with amusement. "I live all the way on the far side. Keeps me in shape too."

He grunted in reluctant agreement as he half dragged himself up the stairs towards the top. Once there, he leaned heavily against a wooden door with a nameplate bearing his name and student number. A breeze blew through the railing, but it only made the sweat on his brow more noticeable to him.

"Are you all right?" Sara asked worriedly. "You looked pretty hurt when I was running to you...back there..."

"Nearly dead would probably be closer." He shrugged. "I don't feel nearly dead, just tired, so I'll stay grateful."

He rummaged in his pockets for his spellchip, fearing for a heartbeat that they might have removed it from his person at the Healer's Ward, but was relieved when he felt the smooth wooden octagon. A lazy wave before the lock and the door opened. Reis gestured her in with an outstretched arm, then shut the door behind them.

There was nothing special about his living quarters; all of the dorm rooms were designed and furnished in exactly the same way and they had few options with regards to personal decorating. In his case the personal touch was a very personal mess.

His face burned a little as Sara raised an eyebrow and lifted one of his undergarments from the simple gray sofa before seating herself. "Um, sorry about the mess."

"Hah. Everyone says that!" Sara leaned back into the sofa and exhaled slowly, relief on her face. "Don't worry, though. Your place is tidier than mine is."

"Now that I find hard to-"

"You're finally back..." a drowsy voice said from the doorway leading into his bedroom on the other side of the place.

Reis nearly died of fright, jerking around to meet the voice stubbing his toe painfully. Nearly as surprised, Sara looked over his shoulder towards the doorway.

Naline, as naked as when he had first met her, leaned into the door frame, one ear drooping while the other stood straight up. Her tail was curled and moved with languid subtleness. A yawn escaped her maw as she regarded the two of them.

They both stared at the darkly colored lupine for a drawn out moment, then Sara turned to look at him with an odd expression.

"You know her, I take it?"

"Um," he said, stumbling over the right words. "No. Yes. Sorta. I met her just today, in the forest. Her name is Naline. Naline, this is Sara."

The lupine tilted her head and smiled at Sara. "Hello."

"Hey," Sara said good-naturedly, then to Reis, with a hint of amusement, "Does she normally walk around stark naked?"

"I don't know," he said, feeling embarrassed for some reason. After, it's not like he had anything to do with that. "She was when I met her though. Like I said, I've been having a very unique day."

"You don't look...like you're around from here," Sara commented, eying Naline's horn.

"I'm not, I suppose."

That reminded Reis of something else. He crossed his arms and frowned."Speaking of which, how did you even get in here? I know outsiders go into the forest all the time even though they're not supposed to, but walking this far into Academy grounds without being stopped? I don't think so."

Naline stretched, showing off her lithe body, and yawned. "I know how to get around."

Reis threw his hands in the air, exasperated. "Fine. I'm going to eat now and not think about any of this."

Reis set about cooking a meal, stir fry and magically preserved undurrm. Not exactly beef steak, but it'd be good enough. He even decided to make an onion sauce for it, just for Sara. Or at least, he was going to, but Naline ghosted him in the kitchen, insisting that she be fed too. That he didn't really have a problem with, but then she started pestering him and mocking his cooking skills until in annoyance he asked if she wanted to make the bloody meal herself.

To his surprise, she did, and reluctantly, when she set three plates on the cluttered dining table, it looked delicious. Probably more delicious than if he had made it, but that wasn't something he was willing to admit. They ate in awkward silence, or at least he and Sara did. Naline seemed overly cheerful, but did she didn't say much either.

After their plates were clean Sara thanked him for the meal and decided she wanted to do nothing more than pass out and sleep the rest of the day away.

"See you tomorrow in class?" she asked hopefully.

"I'll try to be there," he replied. "No promises. We can...talk about what to do tomorrow, too. Maybe the libraries will have something on all this."

"Good idea!" she said, perking up. "Have a good night, then."

He held the door open after Sara's tail tip vanished through it, glancing meaningfully at Naline who was curled up on his sofa.

"I'm not going anywhere," she said.

Reis sighed. "Any particular reason?"

She stood and moved over to him, hands clasped behind her back. "I was actually looking for you when we met in the forest. I can...sense where you are."

A fairly odd thing to say, but not as unsettling as it might had been yesterday. "Look for me? Why?"

"To serve you."

Reis started to laugh, but saw she was serious. "Meaning?"

"Whatever you want it to," she replied, shrugging. "You can ask of me anything except to leave your side and I'll do it without question. As long as we're near each other, I don't care."

Reis looked into her eyes thoughtfully, saw the solemn calm in them. "This has something to do with what happened today. You have something to do with what happened today."

Naline nodded, tail coming up around her waist.

With a jarring realization he noticed they were once again in the dead world of purple mist. Like when he had first appeared here, the purple mist shrouded everything. He didn't know if this was where he and Sara had found themselves at, or some other place. It didn't matter; his heart began to pound. What if another kouv'yrn found them?

"They can't find us when everything is shrouded like this," Naline said, seeing the fear in his eyes. Though she had been standing in front of him the realization that she was here hit just now.

"Did you bring us here?!" he demanded, his voice high.

Naline shook her head and came to stand beside him. "You did. You brought yourself here this morning, too, though only partially."

"Who are you, really?" he asked quietly.

Naline's face grew sad, then she turned. He followed her gaze and the thirteen corpses loomed in a half circle, their features obscured by coiling violet mist.

"I am one of them," Naline said.

Her voice was a whisper.